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As some of you know, I have wanted to stop managing H-M for some time.
It's a tremendous strain on my personal life. I want to set up my own shop.
In September, September 15, to be exact, it will be 8 years that Hobby-Machinist has been in existence.

I have been training VTCNC to run things here. Dabbler is going to learn too.
I feel that they are ready to start taking over the operation.
I will be here to help in case they need, but I don't think they will.
Tony Wells is and will be here also to consult with.
I will be doing backups, upgrades, and installing addons.
Other than that, I will not be around.
I am leaving this place in good operating condition, and financial condition.
--Nelson

Registered

Well....this is where I get lost... I've read about everything I can on here and CNC zone but I still have no idea on screws and nuts...I honestly feel a little over my head with all of the info. I'm to the point I need someone to just tell me exactly what to order .

This post didn't get much traction but based on the reviews elsewhere I will be getting the kit from Automation Tech, the kit is "on sale" and seems to be competitively priced.

I'm don't have my machine yet so cant make any measurements, so that's not helping. If anyone here has a 30 and wants to pass on dimensions of the top of the column I would greatly appreciate it

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I agree! Maybe we can get lucky and someone will see this and help he crowd out. I'm sure someone has the info buried away.... If/when I get the info or figure it out I'll document my project here and we can have another detailed unbox/build thread.

My plan is to have the motors tucked in and not hanging off where the manual controls are and to flip the z motor to cut down the overall height as well so if all goes well this build wont be typical....leave it to me to over complicate things but unfortunately that's how I roll and I think others may be interested in it as well to save space

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I've bought a couple of the hybrid stepper kits from them and they have worked well. they sell a double nut ball screw kit that I put on a G0704 mill and I'm pretty happy with the results. I know they sell a PM25 screw kit, but don't know about the PM30. You can get the same ball screws and nuts etc from ebay. The imported aren't too bad and a couple of the sellers have good reps and will cut the screws to length and machine/thread the ends for you for pretty reasonable when you order if you don't have a lathe or would rather not mess with it. I'd head to the cnczone and do some research and see what folks have already done with your mill and get some insight. There are likely a few different ways and types of mounting and driving things and researching them all, looking at pros and cons and deciding what best fits your needs and goals is the best approach. I decided to make my own motor & bearing mounts etc and it was a fairly straightforward process. I had already converted a little machine shop mill so knew what to expect. You may have to mill or grind out the table saddle to make room for your ballnuts but otherwise most mods are pretty much bolt on even if you build the parts yourself. Overall it's a fun project and nice when it all comes together.

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Back from the dead with a new question that never occurred to me... is adding the spindle operation and speed control an option if using the c-10 board and mach3. As a reminder for this discussion I'm talking about a PM-30...Im sure it cant be as easy as using some of the inputs off of the board, no way I would be that lucky.